Apparatus to supply articles to be counted



Nov. 22, 1955 Filed Feb. 5 1951 5. DE VRIES 2,724A 77 APPARATUS TO SUPPLY ARTICLES TO BE COUNTED 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. mda l/l-les BY wenderaflu Lind e nm-k AHHwv-ne w Nov. 22, 1955 5. DE VRIES APPARATUS TO SUPPLY ARTICLES TO BE COUNTED 2 Sneats- Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 5, 1951 I V TO slum" 5535 1165 y Luadtwl m A f/aw y Unite States atent APPARATU T9 SUPPLY ARTICLES TO BE COUNTED Siebren de Vries, Leenwarden, Netheriauds Application February 5, 1951, Serial No. 209,378 4 Claims. (Cl. 19332) This invention relates to apparatus to supply bulbshaped or tuberiform agricultural and horticultural produce, such as bulbs, fruits and other similar objects to be counted, which apparatus is provided with at least one tubular receiving means.

Until now apparatuses have been known, in which via the tubular means a number of movable cups are filled with the objects to be counted. By means of a counting device the number of filled cups is then counted and the number of objects in each of said cups being estimated in order to obtain a total result.

In general such an apparatus will give rather inaccurate results and in addition its purchase and maintenance are rather expensive.

There are also apparatuses in which the various objects successively drop on to a spring mounted arm, which cooperates with a counting device. This type of apparatus is cheaper to purchase, but the drawback attaches to it that owing to the regularity with which the objects drop onto the arm, the latter will start vibrating, so that, for example, in the case of a stagnation in the feed, it will continue vibrating which will result in an inaccuracy in the reading.

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus to supply objects to be accurately counted.

For this purpose the lower end of the tubular means is entirely or partly closed by a closure member, which closure member forms the bottom of the receiving means, on which bottom the bulb in question will come to rest, the closure member being kept urged against the said lower end by means of a balancing device, which when a predetermined pressure on the closure member is exceeded, enables the latter to free the said lower end in a limited measure, so that one bulb can drop out, whereupon the closure member is actuated by the balancing device and is brought into contact with the following bulb.

In order that the balancing device need not exert too great a force, the closure member can consist of a pivotal closure flap which at the same time is constructed as a lever.

In order to control the supply of the bulbs, the receiving means can be disposed in a sloping position and/or stop means can be provided which when a bulb drops out, arrest the remaining bulbs.

Furthermore the balancing device can comprise a longitudinally slidable valve rod, which has its end pressed against the closure flap by the action of a spring.

According to the invention it is also possible for the valve rod to be provided with a valve and to be slidably arranged in a longitudinally movable housing, the movement of said housing being controlled by the movement of a diaphragm sealing a suction and force chamber, while the said housing can place the said chamber into communication with the atmosphere, which communication can be interrupted by the valve, the valve interrupting the communication when a pressure is exerted on the flap, whereupon owing to air being sucked out of the suction and force chamber the housing and in consequence also the valve rod is moved downwardly by the diaphragm, so that the flapis enabled to free the lower end of the receiving means in such a manner that one bulb can drop out.

Furthermore it is possible to provide a valve instead of a valve rod comprising a valve, at the upper end of the housing, which valve is opened by spring action and can be closed again by a movement of the pivotal closure flap in a direction away from the receiving means.

If the apparatus comprises more than one receiving means, it is possible for the movement of the movable housings to be controlled by one diaphragm, while each valve can separately place 'the suction and force chamber into communication with the atmosphere, the said communication being only then interrupted when all the valve rods are in the closing position.

The movement of the movable housings can also be controlled by a plurality of diaphragms, each valve being capable of separately placing all of the suction and force chambers that are sealed by said diaphragms, into communication with the atmosphere.

The invention will now be illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings which show some embodiments.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a side view in cross section of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a cross section of a side view of a modified embodiment.

Fig. 4 shows a housing and an associated flap.

In the drawings the numeral 1 designates tubular re ceiving means, to which the objects to be counted are supplied and at the lower end of which, at 2, pieces have been cut away.

The said means 1 are arranged in a sloping position and serve as chutes.

At the end of the said means the objects run against pivotal flaps 3 which pivot on fixed shafts 4. If the pressure exerted on the flaps 3 exceeds a certain value a valve rod 6 is moved downwardly in opposition to a spring 5, until the hemispherical head portion 7 secured to said valve rod rests with its flat lower face on the upper face of the housing 8, in which said valve rod is slidably arranged.

The housing 8 is substantially tubular, while the rod can move to and fro in the direction of the length of the housing. To that end the said rod is slidably mounted in two bearings provided in the housing, the spring 5 pressing against the head 7 on the rod 6 and against the upper hearing, so that the rod 6 is urged out of the housing 8 and forces the flap 3 against the receiving means.

The housing 8 has its lower end secured in a branch 10 mounted on a hollow tube 9.

To this tube 9 a plurality of such branches 10 are secured for receiving therein a plurality of housings 8. The housings 8 have such a shape that if the head 7 does not rest on their upper face, there will always be a free passage for the air. When this passage is open, the hollows in the branches 10 and in the tube 9 communicate with each other.

In the center of the tube 9 a hollow tube 11 is secured. The centers of the tubes .11 and 9 and of the branches 10 and the housings 8 are preferably located in one and the same plane. The tube 11 is slidably mounted, so that also all of the housings 8 are simultaneously slidable. For sliding the tube 11 and in consequence also the housings 8 up and down a diaphragm i2 is preferably centrically secured to the lower end of the tube it. said diaphragm being hermetically sealed to said tube 11, while the mouth 13 of said tube 11 reaches through said diaphragm.

Said diaphragm 12 closes a suction and force chamber 14, so that therefore the mouth 13 of the tube 11 gives excess to said chamber 14. The said chamber 14 is hermetically connected to a cylinder 16 by means of a tube 15, a piston 17 being provided in said cylinder 16.

The cylinder 16 is closed by a cover 18 through which a bore 19 passes, which places the space above the piston 17 in communication with a conduit 23. When the piston 17 does not move up and down and the receiving means 1 are not filled, the springs 5 keep the valve rods 6 in the position .shown and the flaps 3 are urged against the lower ends of the means 1.

Inorder to prevent the heads 7 from being pulled into the closing position in opposition to the spring 5 by the air sucked in, a valve 20 is provided in the conduit 15, which valve admits air into said conduit when the sub atmospheric pressure in said conduit drops to too low a level.

If, for example, the apparatus comprises ten housings 8 acting on a diaphragm, the operation of the valve 2d must be such that if nine of said housings are closed by the heads 7 under the weight of the bulbs, the tenth head 7 is not pulled in the closing position by the air which now only passes through the associated housing 8.

The diaphragm 12 will now occupy a flat, non-sagging position, because the suction and force chamber 14 communicates with the atmosphere via the tubes 11, 9 and the housings 8.

In order to eliminate the weight of the tubes 11 and 9 and of the housings 8, two springs 21 can be secured to the tube 9.

The construction of diaphragm is such that, when the receiving means 1 are filled, said diaphragm will remain in its fiat position, in other Words the housings 8 will not move. In this case the flaps 3 only force the valve rods 6 downwardly until the heads 7 will close the passages through the housings 8.

The valves 3 will then have freed the lower ends of the receiving means 1 to a limited extent, but not to such an extent that the objects to be counted can drop from the means 1.

It will be clear that if one of the means 1 is not filled or not correctly filled, the suction and force chamber 14 will all the same remain in communication with the atmosphere. 1

If now the piston 17 is moved downwardly, the air under the diaphragm 12 and below the head 7 will be put under pressure. The strength of the springs 5 is so selected, that the heads 7 can move upwardly without the position of the diaphragm 12 undergoing an alteration, so that, therefore, the air can escape via the tubes 11, 9 and the housings 8. During the upward stroke of the piston 17 the flaps 3 will again move the heads 7 and the valve rods 6 in their closing position. Subsequently the piston 17 will suck the air out of the suction and force chamber 14, so that, because the upper side of the diaphragm 12 communicates with the atmosphere, said diaphragm will assume a concave shape and the tube 11 and in consequence also the housings 8 and the flaps 3 will move downwardly.

As a result the objects lying on said flaps will drop downwardly, so that the pressure on said flaps will be temporarily removed and the heads 7 under the influence of the springs 5 will again place the suction and force chamber 14 into communication with the atmosphere, in consequence of which the diaphragm 12 will resume its flat position and the flaps 3 will again be urged against the receiving means 1. Lest the remaining bulbs should come too quickly into contact with the flaps 3, stop means can be provided on or in the receiving means 1. To this end said receiving means can be lined with a rubber lining 22, which at the upper and lower sides is hermetically sealed to the receiving means 1. The space above the piston 17 can now be placed into com- 4 munication with the spaces between the linings 22 and the means 1, via the bore 19 and the conduits 23.

If the piston 17 is moved upwardly the flaps 3 will move downwardly and the linings 22 will engage the bulbs remaining in the receiving means 1 and thus prevent them from dropping down. It stands to reason that the lining may not extend into the portions 2 of the means 1.

The air above the piston 17, however, could also actuate a lever having a sponge attached thereto, which sponge could be pressed against the remaining bulbs.

As described already the receiving means 1, can also be arranged in such a sloping position that the objects to be counted are not too quickly supplied as otherwise when the piston is continuously reciprocatedthe flap 3 would only perform a vibrating movement, owing to which the objects to be counted might be damaged between the lower edges of the means 1 and the flaps 3.

In actual practice the cycle should be such that when the piston 17 sucks in air only one object to be counted drops from each of the receiving means 1, whereupon, because new objects have not yet been supplied by the means 1, the tube 11, the housings 8 and the flaps 3 move upwardly until the flaps 3 run against the receiving means 1. Thereupon the piston 17 is moved downwardly, whereby the flaps 3 are kept in their last named position, in which position new objects come to rest on the flaps 3 and the cycle can start anew.

In order to ensure that the chamber 14 will be brought into communication with the atmosphere when the tube 11 is in its lowermost position and in order to secure a rapid supply of air, a channel 24 can be provided in the tube 11, which channel in the said lowermost position of the tube 11 will communicate with a channel 25, which in turn communicates with the atmosphere. The springs 21 then assist in causing the diaphragm 12 to quickly resume its fiat position.

In order that the housings 8 with the tubes 9 and 11 may be arranged horizontally and may be movable in a horizontal direction, the flaps 3 can be constructed in the shape of a lever, which can pivot on a shaft 4, as shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 4 shows a modified embodiment of a valve for the housing 8. In this embodiment an arm 26 is secured to the said housing 8, to the end of which arm the end of a lever 27 is pivoted. This lever 27 is provided with a valve 28 which may be made from rubber. The valve 28 can close the end of the housing 8. A compression spring 30 urges a hemispherical head 29 mounted on the lever 27 against the flap 3, the latter being in turn urged against the receiving means 1. The action of this valve 28 equals the action of the head 7.

It is thought that the invention and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it is apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawings being merely a preferred embodiment thereof. i

I claim:

1. Apparatus for supplying articles to be counted comprising, a cylinder having a piston therein, a chamber, a

diaphragm sealing said chamber, a duct connecting said cylinder on one side of said piston with said chamber sealed by said diaphragm, an axially movable tube, said diaphragm being secured about the open end of said axially movable tube, a transverse tube connected to the other end of said axially movable tube, a plurality of hollow nozzles communicating with said transverse tube, a stop valve at the end of each of said nozzles, a spring for each said valve normally maintaining said valves in open position, a pivotally mounted swing arm resting on each said stop valve, a supply chute for each said arm, the:

end of said arm linking up with the discharge end of an associated supply chute.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, guide means for said axial tubes, said axial tubes and said guide means having transverse bores therein by means of which said axial tubes when being displaced can be brought into communication with the atmosphere.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, a spring maintaining said axially movable tube and said transverse tube and said hollow nozzles connected thereto in upward position.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, pneumatic means connected to said cylinder on the side of said piston opposite to the duct connecting said cylinder with said chamber, said pneumatic device being operatively con- 15 nected to said supply chutes and adapted for periodically partially closing said chutes at a distance from the discharge end thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Robinson Jan. 12, Broadmeyer Jan. 29, Albertoli Nov. 22, Hoban Dec. 27, Schulze Aug. 6, Mendoza Jan. 13, Maher et al. Mar. 6, Pottle June 12,

FOREIGN PATENTS Germany May 26, France Aug. 20, 

